I have been using a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera for almost nine years now and the largest print I have ever made for a client, or anyone for that matter, was 30” wide x 20” high. So, when I returned from a photoshoot in Yosemite National Park in late November, 2018, while checking my emails I noticed one with the subject titled ‘Would like to purchase one of your prints!’ I was curious to read further in the contents of the email the print being requested needed to be 5 feet wide x 7 feet high! That is huge I thought!

The requester asked ‘can your photos be enlarged to that size on canvas?’ My initial thoughts were ‘I am quite certain that one of my images can be printed that large but I have no idea where or how a local printer could create a canvas print that big’. After doing a lot of research online I did learn that a canvas print that large can actually be done, and finally with the help of the requester, was able to find a printer locally that had the equipment necessary to print a canvas 62” wide.

After looking through my online galleries the client chose one of my images from my just completed Yosemite photoshoot (shown below). While it was a beautiful image of one of my favorite locations in Yosemite, a sunrise shot with fall colors, I did notice that there was a potential problem with the sharpness of the image. Whilst the foreground of the image was tack sharp, the fall colored leaves of the trees midground were soft – a careless mistake I had made with the focus point during the shoot. Given that the print was 5’x7’, I also knew that this would be magnified many times over in the final print and was reluctant to do so.

However, given the location that the print was to hang in the client’s home, some twelve feet above their entry door with the closest viewing of the print some ten feet away, and with the urging of my clients I felt it was worth considering. I learned a great deal from my initial visit to the printer on what type of digital file that he required for a good quality print, the image format and color space that would be best. I formatted the print file to the final 60”x 84” sizing, image format and color space necessary in Photoshop and took the file on a thumb drive to the printer.

The printer loaded my file into his computer, zoomed in and looked at the image and said to me ‘Do you realize that the trees are not sharp?’ I said that I did, had reservations about printing the file because of that, and his observations was all I needed to confirm that I did not want to print this particular image.

I went back to my client and explained to him my reluctance again and asked that he please choose a different image. I then put together a few selections of images to choose from that I thought would be good alternatives and were tack sharp this time! The image chosen (see below) was one I had shot in late October, 2014 from the same location in Yosemite, a beautiful image of a similar composition with great colors and tack sharp from top to bottom.

I developed this image to the specifications required by the printer and took it in for a second time. He loaded this image into his computer, looked it over carefully and gave me the thumbs up. Let’s print! These are the test prints that he did to begin with – a full-size cross section and a ‘mini me’ print of the whole image.

The two test prints.

The Epson printer with the 62” wide roll of canvas begins to print. I had never seen anything this big before!

The canvas print emerges out of the printer.

Here are a couple of the images of the final print, which looked simply stunning, sharp top to bottom and the colors exactly like I had on the original file. Such a great printing job!

The print being laid out to dry for 24 hours before I took it to the framer.

Hey look, I did this!

An interesting factoid I learned from the printer – the quality and manufacturer of the canvas used to print on is critically important. This printer used a canvas made by Fredrix Artist Canvas, the first company in the USA to manufacture canvas for artists in this country, beginning in 1868.

Some information from their website http://fredrixartistcanvas.com/

‘ABOUT FREDRIX CANVAS

Fredrix® is the premier manufacturer of fine quality canvas products in the world.  With more than 150 years of experience, we manufacture a complete range of canvases for printing and painting. Fredrix® archival print canvas features the same superior quality that is found with our renowned Fredrix® artist canvas.  It is imperative to know how to make a superior artist canvas in order to make a superior printable canvas.

Uncoated textiles are sourced from fine mills in the United States and woven to Fredrix stringent specifications.  This includes an acid-free buffered sizing to protect the canvas fibers from direct contact with the final priming. Each canvas is then primed in the USA with a Fredrix acrylic titanium formula and receives a specially formulated coating for ink receptivity.  This standard of high-quality offers prints and fine art reproductions that are stunning, color accurate, wide in color gamut and guaranteed in their consistency from roll to roll’.

The canvas used by the printer for this print was Encore Gloss Canvas and the texture and finish is simply stunning! The next step in this process was to get the print framed for hanging. A black float frame was selected and it set off the print just perfect. Here are some photos of the framing process:

The print arrives at the framers.

The stretch frame and float frame gets built.

The canvas being attached to the frame.

My first glimpse of the finished product.

The all-important artist’s signature!

And finally, the print hanging in its rightful place!

I had a lot of fun making this print from beginning to the end. Tremendously happy to see it hanging in place under beautiful lighting. A massive THANK YOU to my client for giving me the opportunity and choosing one of my images!

I would like to make two recommendations to my photographer friends and end this blog by highlighting the printer, and the framers, who both did an exceptional job to make this all possible:

 1. The Printer – Mr. Josh King, Sacramento Giclee, https://sacramentogiclee.com/

 2. The Framer – Mr. Scott Hanley, The Hanley Gallery, https://hanleygallery.com/gallery/

“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” – Ansel Adams

It is that time of the year, once again, for me to share with you my Top Twelve Photographs of the Year 2018. This is the 6th edition of a tradition that began in 2013, inspired by Ansel Adams’ quote above. Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984), is one of the most recognizable names in American landscape photography. His black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, books and prints. He is revered by landscape photographers all over the world, and to this day his extended family continues to own and operate The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park. 

2018 was a unique, outstanding and productive year. There were several milestones: a photographic journey to Yellowstone National Park in the winter, my first visit to India including shooting the magnificent and uniquely colorful Holi Festival, an opportunity to shoot the lava flows on the Big Island this year, as well as my first visit to the Canadian Rockies. In all, a rundown of all the locations photographed in 2018: Yosemite National Park (4), Yellowstone National Park, Death Valley National Park, Big Sur Coastline (2), Mt. Shasta, Big Island Hawaii, Kauai (2), and my first trip to India.

When you shoot a few thousand images, as I do on an annual basis, it is difficult to cull it all down to ‘twelve significant photographs.’ So, as in previous years, I determine my Top Twelve, and the order of the selections, by the amount of response the images received on social media. Again this year I will count them down starting with Number 12, its title, some background about each image, and some basic EXIF data.

#12.  Here Comes the Sun – I have wanted to photograph in the Canadian Rockies for some time. When the opportunity arose I was able to be joined by two of my favorite photog compadres, Eric Emerson and Michael Heathman, and so this bucket list item was finally accomplished. This particular location is Moraine Lake, a glacially fed lake in Banff National Park, 9 miles outside the Village of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. It is situated in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, at an elevation of approximately 6,183 feet. The Tower of Babel is this quartzite spire rising 1,476 feet above the North end of Moraine Lake, with the summit reaching a height of 7,743 feet. We were incredibly lucky to be given beautiful morning light, an unseasonal dusting of snow, and these magnificent reflections in the lake.

September 18, 2018, Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Canada; exp. 0.3 sec @ f/11; 16-35mm lens @ 16mm; ISO 160

#11.   Star of India – On our last evening in Agra, we shot the sunset from this location with the Taj Mahal in the background. This location, not accessible to most other tourists, we were brought to by our excellent tour guide, Harsh Agarwal. He also brought his sister-in-law, who made this shot very special. After all, it was originally built for a princess! I feel obligated to write a seperate blog post about my India adventures, a truly magnificent magical mystery tour! The tour of India was organised by Ken Lee, and I would highly recommend you check out his web page for a trip to India, as well as other several other unusual and exciting locations.

February 27, 2018, Agra, India; exp. 1/60 sec @ f/16; 22-105mm lens @ 35mm; ISO 500

#10.  Designs by Sandstone – These eroded sandstone ridges near Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, have always caught my eye. This image from a late afternoon shoot in early January, 2018, I did not develop until I ‘accidentally’ found many months later. This is why I have a hard time cleaning out my files until many, many months have gone by after the initial shoot. I did write a blog earlier this year about this remarkable journey.

January 9, 2018, Death Valley National Park, CA; exp. 1/160 @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 55mm; ISO 100

#9.   Spirit In The Sky – I intended to drive home nonstop after a visit to Ashland, OR, until I saw Mt. Shasta. There were many forest fires in the area at the time, which gave the illusion that it was floating in the sky. Mt. Shasta is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of 14,179 feet it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth-highest in the state.  The mountain and surrounding area are part of the Shasta–Trinity National Forest. I pulled off the main highway to capture this image just outside a town called Weed, a name apropos in so many ways…

July 9, 2018, Mt. Shasta, CA; exp. 1/50 sec @ f/11; 70-200mm lens @ 155mm; ISO 100

#8.  On The Edge – A sunset at ‘my oak tree’ 10 minutes from my home, that highlighted the smoke that enveloped this area due to the worst forest fires in the history of the state of California. When I shot this image there were 16 major fires actively burning in the State. To the south of this location, the Ferguson Fire prompted Yosemite National Park officials to close the popular Yosemite Valley for the first time in 20 years, during the peak tourism season. We are all hoping for a return to normal winter conditions and look forward to some heavy snowfall and rain in the next 4 or 5 upcoming months! The color of the setting sun was created by the low lying smoke from all of the State’s ongoing fires.

July 31, 2018, Folsom, CA; exp. 1/30 sec @ f/8; 24-105mm lens @ 105mm; ISO 400

#7.    Joy – This is what I feel when I arrive to photograph this location in Yosemite National Park. Around this time of the year, mid-November, the fall colors.of these trees are saturated by the early morning light that also seems to add a magical element to the reflection of Half Dome in the perfectly still Merced River. I was here this time with my son Dean J Grenier and his partner Christa Belle, who had never previously visited this magnificent national park. I always feel especially grateful to see this kind of beauty when I am taking special guests to Yosemite so they get to experience the classic and unique majesty that I have discovered and grown to love over the last many years.

November 18, 2018, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1/40 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 24mm; ISO 100

#6.   Perfection  – This image, shot 5 minutes apart from the above, made me give it the title ‘Perfection,’ because the fall colors, the Half Dome reflection, and the early morning light was just that – perfect! In the 6 years that I have been compiling and writing this annual blog, I have never had this phenomenon occur previously: 2 images back to back from the same shoot let alone within a few minutes of each other! It was a beautiful morning to remember, indeed…

November 18, 2018, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1/20 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 55mm; ISO 100

#5.   Jurassic Park Redux – This image was captured on my second trip to the island of Kauai in 2018. I was there to visit my Aussie cousins, Michael and Sharlene Roosmale-Cocq. This is a sunset shot at Kalalau Valley, one of two of my favorite places on Kauai. The other, Ke’e Beach, is still not accessible by road due severe highway damage caused by massive rains that hit the island in April 2017. During the time of this visit we were fortunate to be spared the wrath of Hurricane Lane, although the island was lashed with howling winds and rain for most of our visit. I managed to find this particular location, that I had never shot from previously, and did for the first time because it was the only place I could find to be sheltered from the howling onshore winds prevalent at Kalalau Valley this evening. All’s well that ends well. Mahalo! 

August 24, 2018, Kalalau Valley, Kauai, HI; exp. 1/60 sec @ f/14; 16-35mm lens @ 16mm; ISO 400

#4.   Higher Ground – This is Moraine Lake again, shot from a high point that gives you a great overview of this magnificent landscape. We were told that it is extremely rare to be able to see and photograph snow here at this time of the year because the inroads to the location are typically closed when snow falls in winter. My 16mm wide angle lens could not capture enough of the grandeur of the landscape so I stitched together 3 separate images to create a panorama that gives a complete view of the lake and its surroundings.

September 17, 2018, Lake Moraine, Banff, Canada; exp. 01/13 sec @ f/11; 16-35mm lens @ 16mm; ISO 160

#3.   Primal Scream – This was one of my first shots of lava entering the ocean around the Kapoho Bay area, Big Island, Hawaii. Getting there and back on the boat that took us out there was challenging, with rough seas and tropical downpours. It was thrilling to see the lava, which is molten rock generated by geothermal energy and expelled through fractures or fissures in planetary crust or in an eruption, usually at temperatures from 1,300°F to 2,300°F (700 to 1,200 °C). There is something primal and prehistoric about seeing lava, and my ride home was very emotional, exaggerated perhaps by getting soaked in a tropical downpour! A few weeks after this memorable experience, an explosion occurred in the same location which hit one of the tour vessels, ripped a hole in its roof and caused severe injuries to some of the people onboard. We felt very fortunate indeed to have been able to experience the thrill of this site and return home unscathed.

June 13, 2018, Kapoho Bay, Big Island, Hawaii; exp. 1/500 sec @ f/5; 150-600mm lens @ 150mm; ISO 6400

#2.  This Heart of Mine – At the time this image was shot, the Hawaiian Islands braced themselves for the effects of the massive Hurricane Lane that ended up impacting certain areas of the Big Island. We spent our time in a condo right on the beach in a small town on Kauai, named Kapa’a. I captured this image on the beach right in front of where we were staying, and got in place to shoot when I began to see color in the sunset sky. Picking the right shutter speed allowed me to smooth the seas and give the sky a little more definition, with the colorful heart shaped rock n the foreground being the icing on the cake!

August 20, 2018, Kapaa, Kauai, HI; exp. 1/1.3 sec @ f/11; 16-35mm lens @ 16mm; ISO 400

#1.  Before The Deluge – This image was captured two days after the one above in the same location. It was a dark and foreboding evening, with strong offshore winds and heavy gray skies but I still wanted to see what I could create in these trying conditions. I was sure that there would be no color for this evening’s sunset so I chose to go to the long exposure using a ten-stop filter. In the end, using the effects of the long exposure I was able to create a sky and ocean that was more photogenic than what actually existed. I have to admit that the heart shaped rock in the foreground was arranged to provide an item of interest, but only realized the significance of it being heart shaped when I downloaded and started reviewing my images. I think it is my favorite image of 2018 and it pleases me that it was also voted #1!

August 22, 2018, Kapa’a, Kauai Hi; exp. 120 sec @ f/11; 16-35mm lens @ 16mm; ISO 320

And there it is, my sixth annual Top Twelve Photographs for the 2018 year. Also, a continuing tradition, a few observations in closing: 1) The top two images voted on in 2018 were shot in Kauai, 2) four of the top five images were shot in the Hawaiian islands, 3) two images from Yosemite National Park, and 4) two new locations were represented this year – Banff National Park, Canda, and Agra, India.

I always feel privileged and fortunate in looking back at the end of each year to see where I have traveled to and the beautiful conditions I was given to photograph and be creative. I’d also like to express a big thank you to all those who expressed their support on my Facebook page, for taking the time to do so – it is greatly appreciated! As always, I also owe a great deal of gratitude to the many people who support my photography by purchasing my images in print form, and attending my workshops. Last but not least, the wonderful and talented photographers and friends of mine that I travel and live with during these photographic journeys throughout the year – again, my deepest thanks!

Looking forward to 2019 and wishing everybody a wonderful New Year!

DECEMBER 31, 2017

I have volunteered at the Harris Center for the Arts, in Folsom , California, since the theater opened in 2011. On January 22, 2011, I was an usher for the ‘first’ soft opening event - a complimentary ‘hard hat’ concert for the construction workers, and their families, who had worked on the construction of the theater.

SInce that inaugural event I have volunteered close to 1,500 hours as an usher, ticket validator, lobby greeter, etc. and I have been privileged to support the performing arts and see some incredible shows during the last eight plus years. Therefore, it was an honor to be asked by the head of the volunteers to lead a project and organize an art exhibit in the Bank of America Gallery, that is located in the lobby entrance to the theater. The exhibit was a unique opportunity for the artists among the volunteers to showcase their works of art in the Gallery.

In order to do so we formed The Friends of the Harris Center Art Association, and 22 other artists stepped forward and volunteered to show their art works. All sales of any art work was then to be donated by each individual artist to the Harris Center. The following is a brief summary of the highlights of the event, in what also turned out to be a first gallery showing of my photography.

Here are the participating artist of the exhibit:

The local ‘Style Magazine’ very kindly wrote an article in their May edition promoting the exhibit, show below.

The above is a copy of the kiosk poster that was designed for the event.

The above is a copy of the commemorative poster that was designed by the Harris Center marketing group, and handed out to each individual artist that participated in the inaugural event.

The exhibit was a resounding success raising just over a $5,000 donation, contributed by each individual artist through the sale of their artwork items. It was remarked by numerous patron of the theater that ‘this was the highest quality exhibit ever held in the Bank of America Gallery’.

I donated 4 metal prints to the exhibit, and was fortunate to have one of images to be chosen as the exhibit’s Best in Show. That print (shown below) was of a holy man that I photographed at the Holi Festival held in Nandgaon, India, and happens to one of my favorite images from the Indian photoshoot I did in March 2018.

The Holi Man

I was fortunate to visit Death Valley in January 2018, for what turned out to be an epic journey with three photog compadres of mine, Eric Emerson, Michael Heathman and Joe Naccache. I say epic due to the unique weather conditions given to us by Mother Nature. These conditions provided us with photo opportunities that were indeed rarely seen in these parts of California. First, some interesting background information from an earlier blog post of mine, some two years ago, 'My Favorite Places in Death Valley National Park ~ January 2016. 

 https://www.davidjgrenier.com/blog/2016/02/my-favorite-places-in-death-valley-national-park-january-2016

The valley received its English name in 1849 during the California Gold Rush. It was called Death Valley by prospectors and others who sought to cross the valley on their way to the gold fields. Even though, only one of the group died here, they all assumed that this valley would be their grave. They were rescued, and as the party climbed out of the valley over the Panamint Mountains, one of the men turned, looked back, and said "goodbye, Death Valley." During the 1850s, gold and silver were extracted in the valley. In the 1880s, borax was discovered and extracted by mule-drawn wagons. 

The depth and shape of Death Valley influences its summer temperatures.  The clear, dry air and sparse plant cover allow sunlight to heat the desert surface. Summer nights provide little relief as overnight lows may only dip into the 82 to 98 °F (28 to 37 °C) range. Moving masses of superheated air blow through the valley creating extremely high temperatures. On the afternoon of July 10, 1913, the United States Weather Bureau recorded a high temperature of 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Greenland Ranch (now Furnace Creek) in Death Valley. This temperature stands as the highest ambient air temperature ever recorded at the surface of the Earth. 

We put this photo shoot on our calendars in early November 2017. Of course at that time it was nearly impossible to predict with any accuracy what weather conditions we may experience in early January 2018. I have been a photographer long enough to know, when it comes to weather on a photo shoot, 'You get what you get'. However, when I checked for the weather predictions a few days before our journey began, the forecasts predicted rain.

I have never experienced rain in Death Valley. Not surprising considering the area receives, on average, less than 2 inches of rain annually. However, my 'audacity of hope' was that I would be happy to experience any forms of weather that provided us with clouds, again a somewhat rarity, but always welcome by landscape photographers! What we were given by Mother Nature was a lot more than any of us expected!

We drove into Death Valley on January 8th, and with heavy grey skies, it rained all day. The following morning we headed out for a sunrise shoot in Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, with sunrise set for 7:00pm. What we discovered in the dunes area, located close to Stovepipe Wells, was heavy grey skies and no sunlight to provide any highlights.

We had breakfast at Stovepipe Wells and drove home with no photography possible due to the dull conditions. Sometime late that afternoon sections of the skies bagan to open up, and we headed out to Zabriskie Point to find beautiful light and clouds making for good photographic conditions.

Here are two images from that afternoons shoot:

The above is the classic view from Zabriskie Point,  named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, vice-president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century. The most prominent feature is the arrowhead shaped Manly Beacon to the right, and the textures and color contrasts of the eroded rock common in this area. Manly Beacon was named in honor of William Lewis Manly, who co-guided the ill-fated Forty-Niners out of Death Valley during the gold rush of 1849.

The above is the beautiful rock formation, looking south from Zabriskie Point, with this image showing the setting sun light, along with a layer of low lying fog that completely covered the area just after this was shot. We left this area happy to be out shooting for the first time since we arrived, and headed out to scout the conditions of Badwater Basin, and the possibility of standing water in the area due to the recent rains that could provide an opportunity for reflections at sunset.

The next morning we awoke early and headed out to photograph the sand dunes located close to Stovepipe Wells, the other major location with accommodations and restaurants in Death Valley. From the time we first stepped out of our hotel rooms in Furnace Creek we could not see a clear sky - no visible stars. Not a good sign for a sunrise shoot on the dunes. The farther we drove the more we realized that there would be no sunrise shoot this morning.

The reason for the no shoot - heavy fog! I had never seen fog in this area in the many time I have visited Death Valley. Here is an iPhone shot of the General Store in Stovepipe Wells, just after the sun had risen for the day.

That day I asked every local person that we met if they had ever seen fog in Death Valley in all the time that they had lived in the area. Not one person that I spoke to  had ever seen fog before in the area. The weather continued to be overcast with dense cloud cover, again not conducive to photography on the dunes, because without sunlight there are no highlights and the sand look very monochromatic and dull.

However, in the afternoon the clouds began to thin and disperse so we headed back to dunes hoping for a little more light to make a sunset shoot possible. We have found through experience that the highest and most dramatic dunes are the ones located nearest to the visitor parking lot near Stovepipe Wells. However, these dunes are also the most traversed by visitors, and consequentially, the dunes are marred with hundreds, if not thousands, of footsteps, not exactly attractive in any composition for a photographer.

Nevertheless, we all wanted to go out on the dunes for sunset and picked a place to enter the area someways farther down from the visitor parking lot, hoping that the area would be less marked by footprints. I am including an image of the largest dunes in the area, just to give someone who has never been there an idea of what the big dunes look like, as well as the ever present footprints.

If you can enlarge this image enough, you will see people standing on the top ridges of the dunes that will give you some perspective of the enormity of these magnificent structures. On this day, a first time for me, we walked out into these dunes after a little less that half an inch had fallen over two days. A relatively unusual amount of rain considering that Death valley has an annual rainfall of less than 2 inches per year. 

When we first began walking on the dunes, the sand, wet from the recent rainfall, had a completely different look and feel to it than I had ever seen previously. It was easier to walk on, as the dampness made it more stable. The image above shows what the sand looked like, and we were all happy to be out photographing the dunes finally!

Here is another image below, similar to the first, but with no people and the footprints removed.

And finally, I will leave you with an image that I really liked, albeit abstract, that shows the sheer beauty of these dunes when direct sunlight is available, the beautiful shadows and light that are created are simply a delight to photograph!

I left this evening hoping that we would have an opportunity to shoot a sunrise on the dunes the next morning. This is my favorite time to photograph the dunes. You walk out in the dark to find a position that you can shoot from when the sun rises and the first low light hits the sand. The transformation that occurs of the dunes is simply magical, something that I have experienced previously on many occasions, and one that I wanted to experience again.

Before I show you the images from our sunrise shoot on January 11, I thought I would show you a couple of images that I shot in Badwater Basin, the other significant photographic location in Death Valley. Badwater Basin is an endorheic basin in Death Valley National Park, noted as the lowest point in North America, with a depth of 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. My iPhone compass screen grab shows a -280 ft Elevation, missing the lowest point by 2 feet! Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States, is only 84.6 miles (136 km) to the northwest.

Badwater contains rusty salt formations, that we were hoping would contain water from the recent rains, and that water can then form a reflective surface, that is ideal to reflect the colors of a setting sun over the Panimont Range. Having scouted out the area previously, we knew where the water was, and how to get to the best location. It consisted of walking out from the main designated parking area for approximately 30 minutes. We tried a location that would have been a shorter trek out, but discovered that we had to walk through heavy mud - shorter, but damn near impossible to get through.

Here are a couple of images of a sunset that was captured on our last evening in Death Valley.

I was getting set up prior to sunset when this young lady walked through, normally a 'you're in my shot moment' but I embraced the moment and took this shot anyway. One that gives a perspective and adds a sense of motion to an otherwise stagnet image. 

The sunset shot that I was happy with, pointing in the same northerly direction as the previous image.

And now, on to what I consider the highlight of our trip - the sunrise shoot on January 11, 2018 at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

“Sometimes in this life, only one or two opportunities are put before us and we must seize them no matter the risk.” 
― Andre Dubus III, House of Sand and Fog

Again, we awoke up at 5:15am and headed out to the dunes, feeling encouraged that when we walked out of our hotel rooms we were greeted by the sight of stars in the sky. This meant we had clear skies, and we would have the soft, low, morning light on the dunes, and we would finally have a good photo shoot on the dunes. Little did we know how good!

When we had been out on the dunes the previous evening and run into lots of footprints, we decided to try an area further away, albeit one that none of us had explored, let alone photographed previously. Not the smartest thing to do, one could argue down right risky, going into an area that you have never shot previously in the dark! On the way there, it became obvious that while we may have had clear skies when we left, the dunes area was covered in a low lying fog, caused by evaporation of the previous days rains.

Here are a couple of images below of us walking out in the fog headed to the dunes, as well as setting up our tripods at the dunes when we first arrived and the visibility was very limited.

Joe Naccache, David Grenier and Eric Emerson - photograph courtesy of Michael Heathman

Eric Emerson, Joe Naccache and Michael Heathman - iPhone photo by David Grenier

This morning we were given a show by Mother Nature that was simply epic, and one that not many people have seen before - fog in the Mesquite Flat Dunes in Death Valley. There was a brief time when I did not think that the sun would burn off the fog enough for us to capture anything meaningful. This is a time when you are glad to have been completely wrong! The following are a handful of images from that morning that I consider to be my favorites.

One of the first images shot before the sun burnt through, the beautiful flowing lines of pristine dunes in the fog.

When the sun first began to burn through the fog.........

Fog, shadows and light on the dunes........

Lines - in the shape of the dunes, and in the sand as well........

The patters in the dunes, the low light and the distant fog..............

I could go on, adding one more, and then one more, but have chosen to give you some highlights of this magnificent morning that we were thrilled to have experienced. I decided to do very little development of these images to reflect the soft moody light that we experienced that morning. It was a gentle, low filtered light, and highlighted the markings in the sand, that was beautiful to experience, as well as view and photograph.

A special morning in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley, January 11, 2018 - photo courtesy Joe Naccache.

To me, this was one of the highlights of my many photographic journeys all over the world, an occasion that comes along every so often that I am eternally grateful for. I am constantly reminded of the never ending beauty of our home planet, Earth, so let us all be grateful and ensure we do everything possible to keep it that way, so it gets passed on to all of the many generations of fellow human beings to follow!

Enjoy!

You can see all of the images from this photoshoot and the epic conditions that we were given my Mother Nature at my New Works Gallery! https://www.davidjgrenier.com/new-works/

“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” ~ Ansel Adams

It is that time of the year again for me to share with you my 2017 Top Twelve Photographs of the Year. This is the 5th edition of this tradition that began in 2013, which was inspired by Ansel Adam’s quote shown above. Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984), is one of the most recognizable names in American landscape photography. His black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, books and prints. He is revered by landscape photographers all over the world, and to this day continues to have and operate The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park.  http://anseladams.com/

When you shoot a few thousand images, as I do on an annual basis, it is difficult to cull it all down to ‘twelve significant photographs’ so, as in previous years, I determine my Top Twelve, and the order of the selections, by looking back at my Facebook page and noting how many ‘Likes’ I received when they were originally posted on my wall. I am fully aware that this is far from scientific, and could be argued that it is downright arbitrary, but that is the method I have used and arbitrarily choose to continue to do that again this year:)

Before I begin to run down the Top Twelve images for this year, I must say that this one of my most fun, productive, and satisfying years as a photographer. My creative muse is indeed happy for all of the incredible journeys I was fortunate to experience this year. Here is a rundown of locations I photographed in 2017: Yosemite National Park (7 times), Yellowstone National Park, The Grand Tetons, The Palouse, Bishop, Alabama Hills, North Lake, June Lake, Silver Lake, Lundy Lake, Lake Tahoe, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Monument Valley, Hunts Mesa, San Francisco, The Blue Ridge Parkway, Mabry Mill, VA, Big Sur, and some of my local favorites. First time locations for me were ~ The Palouse, Monument Valley, Hunts Mesa, The Blue Ridge Parkway, Mabry Mill, VA, and the island of Molokai, HI.

So, again this year I will count them down starting with Number 12, say something about each image, and provide some basic EXIF data.

#12     ‘Napali Kona Sunset’ ~ this is the magnificent Kalalau Valley at sunset, from the Na Pali Kona Forest Reserve along the Pihea Trail, our first day out shooting in the Waimea Canyon region of Kauai. I had been here many times in previous years but had never seen this canyon lit up like this before. I am happy that this image made the Top Twelve this year as this was my first professional photo shoot! I was hired by a well know San Francisco marketing agency, and the Creative Director of this 9-day shoot in Kauai was a person that I have known for thirty eight plus years, my daughter Michelle. One of the best father-daughter experiences of my life, we were fortunate to have great weather all the way. This location is truly, one of the most beautiful sites in the world!

July 16, 2017, Kalalau Valley, Kauai, HI; exp. 1/6 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 29mm; ISO 160

#11.    'Waves of Wheat' ~ an image from a sunrise shoot at the summit of Steptoe Butte, the Palouse, a region east of the Cascade Mountains, where SE Washington meets Idaho. This was my first visit to this area, described by one of the local farmers as 'earth dunes', which struck me as being an interesting take of this region. The rich farmlands of rolling hills are blanketed with a patchwork of colors, that are lit up beautifully by the low morning light. I have never seen anything like this before, and the beauty and compositions were endless!

May 22, 2017, Steptoe Butte, Colfax, WA; exp. 1/10 sec @ f/11; 28-300mm lens @ 160mm; ISO 100

#10.    'Blowing in the Wind' ~ one of the last images from a fabulous Arizona Highways Photo Workshop in Monument Valley, led by one of the most knowledgeable, talented Navahoe, and award-winning photographers, LeRoy DeJolie. This was our last morning's sunrise, and I added interest to the sky with a 121 second exposure utilizing a 10 stop neutral density filter. This was one of the most enjoyable and spiritual workshops I have had the privilege of attending, especially the time we spent at Hunts Mesa.

May 1, 2017, Monument Valley, AZ; exp. 121.0 secs (10 stop filter) @ f/11; 16-35mm lens @ 18mm; ISO 160

#9.    'As the Wheel Turns' ~ When Edwin Boston Mabry (1867-1936) built his water powered mill in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, he had no way of knowing it would become one of the most photographed places in the United States. The mill, on the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 176.1, draws several hundred thousand visitors each year. The gristmill and sawmill have been restored by park naturalists so visitors might see live exhibits, a real mill, and a working miller to demonstrate the milling process. This was another one of my first-time-visit locations this year, and hope to return again to enjoy the fall colors and tranquility of this unique area again!

October 18, 2017, Mabry Mill, Blue Ridge Parkway, VA; exp. 1/60 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 24mm; ISO 1000

#8.    'Hunts Mesa Morning Light' - one final image from my Monument Valley, AZ, photoshoot. This is the view of Monument Valley from Hunts Mesa, the morning after we camped out that night. The spirituality and beauty of this place is palpable and special. It was made especially so by the spiritual ceremony performed by LeRoy DeJolie when we first arrived. I will always remember this place, for the views, the way I felt, and the bitter cold winds on the night that we camped out. Also, it will be difficult to forget the journey out here, in huge four-wheel vehicles that were driven on a barely visible trail, that in places was driving on and through massive sandstone rocks!

April 29, 2017, Hunts Mesa, Monument Valley, AZ; exp. 1/80 sec @ f/16; 24-105mm lens @ 35mm; ISO 400

#7.    ‘Yosemite Falls Reflection’ ~ I drove into Yosemite National Park on Friday, February 11, 2017, through one of the heaviest rainstorms I have ever experienced in this area. I shot this image by the parking lot just to the left after you cross over Sentinel Bridge. The temporary standing water in Cook’s Meadow provided a unique opportunity for a refection shot of Yosemite Falls, including a small rainbow that appeared briefly at Mid Falls. California experienced on of the most prolific years of precipitation in 2017, that helped bring to an end a seven year drought that had a profound impact on the State. Because of the huge rainfalls, Yosemite was a wash with standing water not seen in any normal year, and provided photogrpahic opportunites for reflections in areas that again, I had never seen before in Yosemite Valley.

February 11, 2017, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1/40 sec @ f/11; 16-35mm lens @ 16mm; ISO 100

#6.   'Spotlight' ~ captured this Three Brothers reflection on a still Merced River, Yosemite National Park, during my seventh and last trip to Yosemite late 2017. Fall is a great time to be in Yosemite for reflection shots, and I was fortunate to get a sky to go along with a still day. Shot this image from a perfect location to capture reflections of this iconic granite formation. A couple of hours earlier, the sky was perfectly clear, and I began the day by shooting image #3. Then conditions chanh=ged quickly, as they do in Yosemite, creating a ominous looking sky that was perfectly for this composition!

November 2, 2017, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1/25 sec @ f/11; 16-35mm lens @ 23mm; ISO 400

#5.   ‘Before the Deluge’ ~ I drove down to Yosemite National Park the first week of January to find very heavy, warm rains falling, thereby removing all of the fallen snow off the Valley trees. This was shot during about an hour's break in the storm on Thursday, with the mist caused by the abundant water, adding a lot of character to this beautiful Valley. NorCal had been under a deluge of rain/snow earlier that week, and a series of storms over the last few weeks in the Sierra Nevada have been very good to Lake Tahoe. According to the National Weather Service, the lake has gained about 33.6 billion gallons of water since Jan. 1, and the lake has risen about one foot in 5 days!

January 5, 2017, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1/8 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 32mm; ISO 100

#4.  ‘StarLight’ ~ another image from the final sunrise shoot at Monument Valley. After the rising sun broke through the sliver of an opening above the horizon, I found myself chasing the light behind the West Mitten in an effort to capture a sunburst. The resultant low light on the foreground and the sunburst against the Mitten was extremely gratifying, as well as the illumination of the cloud laden sky made it for a very special ending to a very special workshop. I highly recommend this workshop, especially with award-winning Navajo photographer LeRoy DeJolie

May 1, 2017, Monument Valley, AZ; exp. 0.3 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 28mm; ISO 400

#3.   Etched in Light ~ I have learned as a  photographer, that ‘being there’ has a great deal to do with getting a great shot. However, when you are there ‘knowing where you need to be’ allows you to get the exceptional shot. I began this morning at Tunnel View with clear, bald blue skies. From experience, I knew that this particular spot on the Merced River could be really good, as early morning could highlight the fall colors at the river bend. I guessed right! I was the only person here on this special morning, November 2, 2017, and came away with my favorite image of my Yosemite fall shoot. 

November 2, 2017, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1/10 sec @ f/22; 16-35mm lens @ 16mm; ISO 100

#2.  ‘Serrano Oak Sunset' ~ ‘Perhaps the crescent moon smiles in doubt at being told that it is a fragment awaiting perfection. ~ Rabindranath Tagore. The rain storms were taking a temporary break in NorCal, which gave us this beautiful sunset and crescent moon last night, at my favorite oak tree a two minute drive from my home. It is aways special and rewarding, after traveling to many faraway places on this planet, that an image shot a few minutes away from where I live, ends up in the Top Twelve Photographs of any year!

January 31, 2017, Serrano, El Dorado Hills, CA; exp. 1/15 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 24mm; ISO 100

#1.  ‘Majestic’ ~ one of my favorite locations in Yosemite National Park, a place that I refer to as River Bend, that has this magnificent view of Half Dome and the Merced River. Sunset on a Saturday night, March 4, 2017, provided these beautiful colors, and with a slow shutter speed I was able to smooth out the river waters and pick up more of the reflection colors. The eddies and swirls added that needed interest to the foreground, all adding up to this image being voted #1 in 2017!

March 4, 2017, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1.6 sec @ f/22; 24-105mm lens @ 32mm; ISO 50

And there you have it, my fifth annual Top 12 Photographs for the 2017 year. Also, a continuing tradition, a few observations in closing - 1. Five of the Top Twelve images voted on in 2017 were shot in Yosemite National Park, a very special place on Earth for me, both spiritually and photographically, 2. five of the twelve were shot in first-time locations for me - Monument Valley, Hunts Mesa, AZ, Mabry Mill, VA, and the Palouse, WA. It is always interesting for me to compile these images every year and be reminded of the wonderful accomplishments I was privileged to complete by traveling to these beautiful locations, as well as what excellent tastes that the followers of my Facebook page have. The Likes and Comments each image receives are the basis of determining what appears in this Top Twelve list each year. So a big thank you to all these people for taking the time to do so - greatly appreciated!

In conclusion, and as always, I owe a great deal of gratitude to the many people who support my photography by purchasing my images in print form, attend my workshops, as well as the hundreds of Likes and Comments that so many people take the time to stop by and leave on my Facebook page at  http://facebook.com/djgrenier . Last but not least, the wonderful and talented photographers and friends of mine that I travel and live with during these photographic journeys through out the year - again, my deepest thanks!

Looking forward to 2018 and wishing everybody a Wonderful New Year!

I have been very fortunate to photograph in a number of beautiful locations during the first half of 2017. This has probably been my most rewarding six months of photography in the first half of any year, and therefore want to briefly memorialize these experiences in this blog post. I will go through each location and pick a few images that I think highlight the best moments of the time spent there.

Yosemite Valley, California

At the top of the list is Yosemite National Park, which I have visited five times so far this year. My first visit was January 5th, and my last was May 10th. During those times, I also conducted two private workshops with special clients that I enjoyed spending time with showing the nooks and crannies of one of my most favorite places on earth. The highlight for this blog though has to be the massive rains that California received this year, and the resultant flooding that occurred in Yosemite Valley. California had been in a six year drought until this year, where the drought formally came to an end due to massive rain and snowfalls, with this season going into the history books as the second wettest in 122 years of record-keeping!

iPhone 7 Plus; 5:05 pm, February 10, 2017

The image above was shot on the evening of February 10th when I first arrived and began to drive around the Valley. In all the years I have been visiting Yosemite I have never seen standing water in this particular location, or that much of it. It is also interesting to note the sign that shows the level of the water in this location on January 2, 1997, the last big flood in the area. The flood stands as arguably the park's worst natural disaster to date (some would give this designation to the rockfall of 1996 or the Rim Fire of 2013), and inarguably the worst flood in park history. The flooding stranded 2,100 visitors in the park, albeit fortunately there were no fatalities. Total park damages were estimated at $178 million at that time.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/40 sec at f/11; Canon EF 16-35mm @ 16mm; ISO 100; 8:57 am, February 11, 2017

I began thinking about a reflection shot immediately I saw this standing water and came back the next morning at sunrise. I have never seen a shot like this showing Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls reflected from this particular location previously, so was very excited to capture this unique image. The small rainbow at the base of Upper Yosemite Falls was a nice added touch.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/25 sec at f/16; Canon EF 16-35mm @ 16mm; ISO 125; 9:09 am, May 11, 2017

This reflection shot of El Capitan and the Three Brothers was shot three months later to the day, when warmer weather created a powerful snow melt that caused the Merced River to overflow its banks in some places that, again, I had never seen standing water. I got my lower body very wet getting this shot, a three image panorama, standing in water that was a few inches deeper that the tops of my Wellingtons that got completely filled with very cold water! All's well that ends well:)

Canon EOS 5DS R; 0.6 sec at f/18; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 32mm; ISO 125; 6:30 pm, May 11, 2017

I thought that I would leave you with this sunset shot from Cook's Meadow, with the beautiful infamous elm tree in the foreground, fondly referred to as 'Ansel's Tree'. It is interesting how the weather patterns can change so rapidly in Yosemite. When we set up at this location, it did not look like there was going to be much of a sunset this particular evening. There was a small cloud sitting at the top of Half Dome and at best we were hoping for some alpine glow on the granite face. Gradually that cloud morphed into this beautiful structure that then began to catch color from the setting sun

Monument Valley/Hunts Mesa, Arizona

I had wanted to photograph Monument Valley, Arizona, for sometime now, and when I found an Arizona Highways Photo Workshop that would take me to Monument Valley, as well as Hunts Mesa I decided to sign up immediately. Along with a good friend, we began our journey to Arizona on May 26, and returning May 30, including visits to Kayenta, Monument Valley, and the highlight of the trip being an overnight camping stop in the incomparable Hunts Mesa.

Monument Valley, a red-sand desert region on the Arizona-Utah border, is known for the towering sandstone buttes of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. The park, frequently a filming location for Western movies, is accessed by the looping, 17-mile Valley Drive. The famous, steeply sloped Mittens buttes can be viewed from the road or from overlooks such as John Ford’s Point. Hunts Mesa forms the southeastern edge of Monument Valley and the northern edge of Little Capitan Valley. Its elevation is 6,370 feet (1,942 m). Access to Hunts Mesa is not through the general entrance of the park but rather through the sand dunes northeast of the town of Kayenta, Arizona.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 121 sec at f/11; Canon EF 16-35mm @ 18mm; ISO 160; 9:09 am, May 11, 2017

I chose the shot above of Monument Valley, at sunrise, where I decided to use my 10 stop filter to accentuate the clouds in the sky with a two minute long exposure. It created the streaks in the clouds and gave it an interesting, unique look that added an element of drama to the scene, that includes the infamous East and West Mittens, together with the Merrick Butte on the right.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/250 sec at f/16; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 35mm; ISO 400; 9:09 am, May 11, 2017

This is a sunrise shot from Hunts Mesa, after a sleepless night in a small tent and howling winds that did not let up all night long! The tent was so small I could not stretch out on the cot that we were provided with, and it had been thirty plus years since I had slept in a sleeping bag. Clearly, this confirmed that it is illegal, as well as foolish for me to consider camping even for one night again:)

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/6 sec at f/16; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 28mm; ISO 125; 9:09 am, May 11, 2017

This is the Totem Pole at dawn, and on the left the Yel-Bichel pinnacles. The Totem Pole is a pillar or rock spire and is a highly eroded remains of a butte. It is over 400 feet tall, and was last climbed by Clint Eastwood and George Kennedy in Eastwood’s 1975 film, The Eiger Sanction. The Yei-Bi-Chei pinnacles are named for their resemblance to the real dancers who appear on the ninth and last night of the Navajo winter religious ceremony called “The Night Way”.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/125 sec at f/11; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 65mm; ISO 200; 9:16 am, April 30, 2017

Monument Valley, has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. It is perhaps most famous for its use in many John Ford films, including Stagecoach (1939) and The Searchers (1956). It has also been featured in the film Easy Rider (1969), Robert Zemeckis' film Forrest Gump, Clint Eastwood's film The Eiger Sanction (1975), and recently the popular United Kingdom television show Doctor Who in the two episodes "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon". This is John Ford Point, named in honor of the movie director who spent a lot of time in Monument Valley, aside from making five movies here. We had a young Navajo Native American ride the horse in this image and pose as a model that provided an added interesting, and appropriate touch to the composition.

I would like to make a mention here of the leader of our workshop, a Navajo Native American photographer of renown, LeRoy DeJolie. This is the third Arizona Highways Photo Workshop I have taken with LeRoy, and I highly recommend him as a workshop leader. His local knowledge is second to none, works very hard to help any photographer that asks, and he is the perfect Navajo guide, a mandated necessity, to get us into these beautiful ancient Navajo lands. These workshops are a very reasonable cost method of getting to locations that you want to photograph, always led by a great professional photographer, who know the right places to go and at the right times of day, together with very competent support people who work very hard to make these events memorable.

Palouse, Washington

For my next photo shoot, I joined two of my closest photographer friends on a road trip that took us to the Palouse, Washington, onto Yellowstone National Park, and finally to the Grand Teton National Park, both in Wyoming.

The Palouse is the most serene and pastoral region in southeastern Washington characterized by gentle rolling hills covered with wheat fields. The hills were formed over tens of thousands of years from wind blown dust and silt, called "loess", from dry regions to the south west. Seen from the summit of 3,612 foot high Steptoe Butte, they look like giant, colored sand dunes because they were formed in much the same way. In the spring they are lush shades of green when the wheat and barley are young, and in the summer they are dry shades of brown when the crops are ready for harvest. The Palouse hills are not only a landscape unique in the world, but they are beautiful to behold and or photograph.

This was one of the most joyful shoots that I have ever experienced. The area to photograph is endless, the compositions are unlimited, and the lighting we had, both at sunset and sunrise was simply stunning. I have so many images that I like it is very difficult to choose, but I chose the following and hope that it portrays the region well and shows the endless beauty of this magnificent region of Washington state.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/125 sec at f/11; Canon EF 28-300mm @ 105mm; ISO 400; 5:49 am, May 23, 2017

This first image is a panorama that I shot during the first sunrise that we did from Steptoe Butte. This location, in my humble opinion, is what makes the Palouse so photogenic. It is the highest point in the region, and at the very top, it gives a photographer a 360 degree view to shoot from. The early morning light on these 'earth dunes' is magical, and the compositions are endless. The sunsets too are special, again because of the light and never ending views.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/4 sec at f/9; Canon EF 28-300mm @ 60mm; ISO 100; 8:16 pm, May 22, 2017

This is an image from our first sunset shoot on Steptoe Butte. The setting sun and the lupin created this beautiful scene typical of this magical area in Washington. The 3,612-foot (1,101 m) butte is preserved as Steptoe Butte State Park, a publicly owned 150-acre (61 ha) recreation area located 12 miles (19 km) east of the nearest town, Colfax.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/640 sec at f/11; Canon EF 28-300mm @ 80mm; ISO 500; 4:20 pm, May 24, 2017

This is a location that we stumbled upon driving up and down roads using a map of the region provided to tourists by the Pullman Chamber of Commerce. What made this location so special on this afternoon was the way the clouds in the sky filtered the light on the landscape, where as you waited the light changed and lit up different areas just like spotlights. Again so many compositions and three to four points of view to shoot from just one location.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/8 sec at f/11; Canon EF 28-300mm @ 28mm; ISO 400; 8:37 pm, May 24, 2017

After shooting the location above we drove around for quite some time looking for a location to shoot the sunset. With the ever present clouds in the sky we were anticipating a colorful sunset but had great difficulty finding a suitable location until we stumbled upon this hill, at what turned out to be on an unmarked private property. Soon after we decided that this location would have to do because we were running out of time before the sunset would begin, the farm owner drove up to inform us that we were on his private property.

With our best smile and diplomatic attitude we asked him if that meant we had to leave, and also informed him that if we had seen any signs driving in that told us we were on private property we certainly would not have done so. He was kind enough to let us stay, even though he did come back later after the sunset was over and saw us drive off his property. A wonderful end to an extremely productive day!

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park is a nearly 3,500-sq.-mile wilderness recreation area atop a volcanic hot spot. Mostly in Wyoming, the park spreads into parts of Montana and Idaho too. Yellowstone features dramatic canyons, alpine rivers, lush forests, hot springs and gushing geysers, including its most famous, Old Faithful. It's also home to hundreds of animal species, including bears, wolves, bison, elk and antelope. The Yellowstone Caldera is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano located underground in Yellowstone, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano.

The term “supervolcano” implies an eruption of magnitude 8 on the Volcano Explosivity Index, indicating an eruption of more than 1,000 cubic kilometers (250 cubic miles) of magma. Yellowstone has had at least three such eruptions: The three eruptions, 2.1 million years ago, 1.2 million years ago and 640,000 years ago, were about 6,000, 700 and 2,500 times larger than the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State.

While the Yellowstone national park in Wyoming is stunningly beautiful, with brightly coloured sulphuric hot springs and erupting geysers, it packs a mighty punch. If the volcano were to erupt, it could cause a global catastrophe, particularly in the US where it would instantly kill 87,000 people and make two-thirds of the country immediately uninhabitable as the large spew of ash into the atmosphere would block out sunlight and directly affect life beneath it. I can only hope that this does event not need to occur in all of its majesty during my lifetime!

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/10 sec at f/11; Canon EF 16-35mm @ 16mm; ISO 160; 5:59 am, May 26, 2017

The Grand Prismatic Spring, discovered by geologists in 1871, is the largest hot spring in America and the third largest in the world. It has a diameter of about 295 feet and a depth of 164 feet. In the center of the spring the water is so hot that the bacteria is not able to survive, whereas the temperature gradually drops towards the edges. This explains why the dazzling bright yellows, fierce oranges and deep reds only appear around the edges while the deep blue remains confined to the center. It is located in the Midway Geyser Basin and is one of my favorite geyser springs to photograph in Yellowstone.

One item of interest that we learned while we were at the Yellowstone Visitor Center, is that the Park Rangers have been in the process of constructing a viewing platform on on the ridge that you see in the background of the image above. It is scheduled to open in July this year, and will provide a magnificent photographic opportunity to capture the whole of this spring from above, something that has only been previously available to adventurous people who were willing to climb up into the hills around this area. Can't wait to get there again and photograph from the new location!

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/5 sec at f/14; Canon EF 16-35mm @ 27mm; ISO 125; 5:52 am, May 28, 2017

Silex Spring, a favorite go to sunrise location when in Yellowstone, has a temperature of 193 F and is 36 feet x 40 feet, and a depth of 27 feet. It is unknown when or by whom this colorful blue spring was named, but the name Silex may refer to the word silica. Some believe it may refer to the Silex coffee percolator. The spring boils occasionally and, periodically large bubbles of gas rise to the surface. The 1959 earthquake caused it to erupt and increased the flow. The discharge is now 70 to 100 gallons per minute.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/25 sec at f/11; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 28mm; ISO 125; 2:15 pm, May 27, 2017

This is Lower Yellowstone Falls, and an area of the Park that I had not visited the last time I was here in the fall last year. Yellowstone Falls consist of two major waterfalls on the Yellowstone River. As the Yellowstone river flows north from Yellowstone Lake, it leaves the Hayden Valley and plunges first over Upper Yellowstone Falls and then a quarter mile (400 m) downstream over Lower Yellowstone Falls, at which point it then enters the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which is up to 1,000 feet (304 m) deep.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/500 sec at f/5.6; Canon EF 1oo-400mm @ 100mm; ISO 800; 9:21 am, May 28, 2017

On our final day in Yellowstone we set out to photograph Bison. Not exactly my expertise so I wanted to get some practice in and bring back one or two images of these majestic animals. This was our first stop, where I managed to get this beautiful animal as it just crossed the Madison River, near West Yellowstone. The male Bison can weigh approximately 2000 lbs., and this one still had on its winter coat, albeit soaking wet in the rear because it had just swam across the river.

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park is in the northwest of the state of Wyoming. It encompasses the Teton mountain range, the 4,000-meter Grand Teton peak, and the valley known as Jackson Hole. It’s a popular destination in summer for mountaineering, hiking, backcountry camping and fishing, linked to nearby Yellowstone National Park by the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. It is only 10 miles (16 km) south of Yellowstone National Park. Grand Teton National Park is named for Grand Teton, the tallest mountain in the Teton Range. This is a beautiful location to stop at on your way into Yellowstone or on your way out. I first visited it last year in the fall and wanted to see it in the spring, which did not disappoint one bit! From my experience in this area I have found that there are four classic locations for photography, and I have images from each one below.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/4 sec at f/16; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 82mm; ISO 100; 5:18 am, May 29, 2017

Sunrise at the T.A. Moulton Barn and with the Grand Teton showing in the background. The T. A. Moulton Barn is all that remains of the homestead built by Thomas Alma Moulton and his sons between about 1912 and 1945. It sits west of the road known as Mormon Row, in an area called Antelope Flats. The property with the barn was one of the last parcels sold to the National Park Service by the Moulton family.

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/15 sec at f/11; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 50mm; ISO 800; 4:45 am, May 30, 2017

Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park is located just a little over a mile straight east of the Jackson Lake Junction on Highway 89.  It's where the Snake River gets extremely wide and Mount Moran is seen reflecting in the calm water in all it's glory.  It's really a sight to behold. Oxbow Bend is without a doubt the most photographed place in the entire park.  The image of the Snake River with Mount Moran's reflection is iconic and is probably the most recognized image of Grand Teton National Park throughout the world.  It is a magnificent sunrise location, and it is grand central station in the fall, where I have seen over 300 plus photographers line up for a sunrise shoot!

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/13 sec at f/11; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 32mm; ISO 125o; 4:57 am, May 31, 2017

Schwabachers Landing is a boat landing located a few miles south of Snake River Overlook, along the east shore of the Snake River. It provides an opportunity for beautiful reflections of the Grand Teton range, and is especially beautiful in low morning light at sunrise. Having the duck in the foreground was a bonus, and in order to ensure it was sharp I adjusted my ISO to 1250. One huge noticeable difference shooting in these locations in the spring vs the fall, is in spring there were a significantly less number of photographers to contend with in all of these locations.

Some 75 years ago you could see the bend of the Snake River, where Ansel Adams included it in one of his most iconic images in 1942, The Tetons and the Snake River. Today the trees have grown, as you can see in the image below, and you can no longer see that bend in the river, though it is still one of my favorite places to see and photograph the Grand Teton Range.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III; 1/25 sec at f/16; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 40mm; ISO 10o; 4:37 pm, May 30, 2017

On the last evening of our stay in the Park, we decided that we would go out and practice photographing Bison again. That is until, driving out of Jackson we noticed a massive and beautiful storm sitting right above the Teton Range. We immediately decided that we should head straight out to the Snake River Outlook, an ideal location to photograph this gnarly looking storm. I was so excited to have this opportunity as I had never seen such a beautiful looking sky over this mountain range and was so looking forward to the chance to capture some unique images.

We literarily raced out to the location, got out of the vehicle, opened the trunk to reach for my camera and tripod when it hit me - I had left both my camera bodies in my hotel room. I was incredulous that I could have made such a stupid mistake! We had been photographing Bison earlier in the day, and I had long lenses on both camera bodies which gave me a wider choice of focal range. When we got back to our hotel earlier in the day, I grabbed both bodies and headed up to the room to change lenses and set everything back to the way it normally was. I then forgot to bring them back out with me to the vehicle when we left.

The owner of the vehicle we were traveling in very kindly offered his vehicle for me to drive back and fetch my camera, which I did in about 45 minutes, and by the time I got back there was still a beautiful sky available and I ended up with some nice images after all. You get by with a little help from your friends:)

San Francisco

Canon EOS 5DS R; 1/120 sec at f/9; Canon EF 24-105mm @ 50mm; ISO 1000; 7:40 pm, June 24, 2017

And finally, I will leave you with an image of Mt. Tamalpais that I shot last Sunday. I took a very good friend and photographer with me to show her this phenomenon of coastal fog that rolls in and creates beautiful scenes as it washes over into the Marin Headlands in the summer. We went back to a spot that my daughter Michelle, who lives in the area, took me to just over two years ago. We had a lot more fog on that particular day, though this experience did not disappoint!

As I wrap up this blog post just before the celebration of this country's Independence Day, I feel grateful and excited about the photographic opportunities that I have had so far this year. I also feel grateful to have some wonderful friends to accompany me on these photo journeys, whose presence makes these adventures even more fun. I am now getting ready to leave on my first professional assignment for a marketing company in San Francisco. I am being sent out to the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawaii, on the 4th of July returning July 13th, to shoot landscape images on what is so rightfully called the 'Garden Isle'.

The adventure continues!

I just arrived home today, June 1, 2017, from a photo shoot that took me to the Palouse region in Washington, then on to Yellowstone National Park, with our final stop being the Grand Tetons National Park. It was a photo shoot that has provided me with hundreds of images to sort through and develop, a difficult and time consuming task as I have so many that I like,  so choosing which ones to work on is difficult. A good problem to have:)

Going online to get caught up with all I needed to check on, I discovered that one of my images from a Patagonia shoot late last year had been selected by the Staff of 'Outdoor Photographer Magazine' as the Photo Of the Day, June 1, 2017. This indeed is an honor and a thrill as OPM is the premier landscape magazine in the USA. It also made me happy because this is my favorite image from the Patagonia trip. Here is the link to their online post: https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/photo-day-david-grenier/?platform=hootsuite

In all the time we spent in Patagonia, both Argentina and Chile, we had very strong winds blow. While these are the prevailing winds in the region, as a photographer a goal of this trip was to capture reflection shots of the magnificent local mountain ranges - Mt. Fitzroy in Argentina and Paine Massif, located in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

On this particular morning, while I knew the chances were low, I wanted to walk to a lake located at the bottom of these beautiful distinctive three granite peaks of the Paine mountain range or, Paine Massif. With two other photographers in tow, we set out to walk to the lake. It was a long walk, begun in the dark and we kept walking until day light first appeared.  After a lengthy walk it became obvious that there was no still water anywhere. We reached the lake, confirmed that there was no reflection shot and began walking back.

The next composition I was contemplating in my mind was the early morning light that I knew was about to hit these granite peaks. In the foreground I also knew that I had to use the omnipresent dead, silver colored trees, still standing from accidental fires that ravaged the park at various times going back to 1985. I captured another image before this one, did not like the composition and quickly scrambled into a place that I could also include the path. Back at the hotel later that day I developed this image and was very happy with how it turned out!

Photo Of The Day By David Grenier

By Staff | May 31, 2017 |

Photo By David Grenier

Today’s Photo Of The Day is “Patagonia Morning Light” by David Grenier. Location: Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

“One of my favorite images from a Patagonia trip last November, shot at sunrise on a cloudy morning with the magnificent and distinctive three granite peaks of the Paine mountain range or Paine Massif,” says Grenier. “Torres del Paine National Park encompasses numerous mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. In the foreground are the omnipresent dead, silver-colored trees, still standing from accidental fires that ravaged the park at various times going back to 1985.”

Photo of the Day is chosen from various OP galleries, including Assignments, Galleries and the OP Contests. Assignments have weekly winners that are featured on the OP website homepage, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To get your photos in the running, all you have to do is submit them.

“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”~ Ansel Adams

It is that time of the year again for me to share with you my 2016 Top Twelve Photographs of the Year. This is the 4th edition of this tradition that began in 2013, that was inspired by Ansel Adam's quote shown above. Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984), is one of the most recognizable names in American landscape photography. His black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, books and prints. He is revered by landscape photographers all over the world, and to this day continues to have and operate The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park http://anseladams.com/

When you shoot a few thousand images, as I do on an annual basis, it is difficult to cull it all down to 'twelve significant photographs' so, as in previous years, I determine my Top Twelve, and the order of the selections, by looking back at my Facebook page and noting how many 'Likes' I received when they were originally posted on my wall. I am fully aware that this is far from scientific and could be argued that it is downright arbitrary, but that is the method I have used and arbitrarily choose to continue to do that again this year:)

I was fortunate to have traveled and created opportunities to shoot in a wide variety of places in 2016. From my favorite venues such as Yosemite National Park, Mono Lake, Bodie Historical State Park, and the Central Coast in California, this year I was also able to shoot for the first time along the Pacific North West Coastline in Oregon. There were a number of other memorable firsts for me this year ~ The Grand Teton's National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and last but not least and a highlight of the year was a visit to the Patagonia regions of Argentina and Chile. It was also my first visit to the Continent of South America, and adds to my list of Continents that I have already visited - Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and North America. That makes it 6 of the generally recognized 7 Continents, with the outstanding 7th now being Antartica. I wish I could tell you that I have in an interest in making it to all 7, but I have no interest as of this writing to do so since cold weather to this day chills me to the bone!

So again this year I will count them down starting with Number 12, give you the Facebook vote count, say something about each image, and provide some basic EXIF data.

#12 (112) 'In the Footsteps' ~ Some fall colors in the foreground and the Grand Tetons basked in afternoon light, shot from the Snake River Landing parking lot in the Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming. This was the location that Ansel Adams shot one of his iconic black and white images, perhaps one of his most famous, entitled The Tetons and the Snake River, in 1942. Back then the Snake River bend created a beautiful leading line into the Tetons, where as now those trees have grown upwards a great deal and the shot is quite different, but still beautiful, especially with the fall colors. Adams was passionate about the natural landscape in which he spent much of his childhood, and would use his art to convince, or remind, others of it's beauty. Still a worthwhile pursuit for any photographer even today!

Sep. 17, 2016, Snake River Landing, Grand Tetons National Park, WY; exp. 1/125 sec @ f/11; 24-105 mm lens at 60 mm; ISO 100

#11 (115) 'Light My Fire' ~ This is what is commonly known as the 'Horsetail Falls phenomenon'. What you see in the image below is Horsetail Falls light up by the setting suns' light shining on the water that flows down this particular location for a few weeks in February in Yosemite National Park. It is one of nature’s most wondrous sites to watch how this phenomenon gradually develops high on top of the eastern side of El Capitan, where I am certain thousands of people drive by and do not even know that this waterfall exists! For this amazing site to occur, water needs to be present in the falls, the sunset needs to unobstructed by clouds in the western sky, which then lights up the falls and its spray to look like it's on fire within the last few minutes of the setting sun. I have had the good fortune of being here three times over the last many years to view and photograph it, and this last time was simply the best!

Feb. 16, 2016, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 0.5 sec @ f/11; 70-200 mm lens+1.4x at 257 mm; ISO 100

#10 (116) 'Lady in Red'~ Alpenglow at sunset reflected in the Merced River, at Valley View, or also know as Gates of the Valley, Yosemite National Park, California. El Capitan (Spanish for The Captain) is located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end, the granite monolith extends about 3,000 feet (900 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers and BASE jumpers. Along with most of the other rock formations of Yosemite Valley, El Capitan was carved by glacial action. This is one of my favorite locations to shoot at sunset when the skies are completely devoid of clouds, and the alpenglow can be counted upon to give a photographer this beautiful reflection photographic opportunity!

Nov. 14, 2016, Valley View, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 2.5 sec @ f/11; 24-105 mm lens at 28 mm; ISO 100

#9 (120) 'Tranquil Solitude' ~ I have shot this lone oak tree from this particular location, a ten minute drive from my home, so often that it has now unofficially been named My Oak Tree! Over the years I have been fortunate to shoot many an image here, always blessed with amazing skies that light up at sunset. This particular image shows a typical winter's evening in Northern California, a place I have called home now for almost 14 years, when the hills begin to turn green again, a chill is in the air, and we are blessed with these beautiful skies. I love this spot because it allows me to be creative between photo shoots to exotic, far away locations, and enjoy this pastoral scene a few minutes from the hustle and bustle of city life. I also don't take if for granted that one day this location will become a massive construction site for the continuous urban sprawl that we have become accustomed to and put it down as 'the progress of man'!

Dec. 4, 2016, El Dorado Hills, CA; exp. 3.2 sec @ f/11; 24-105 mm lens at 40 mm; ISO 100

#8 (122) ‘Homeward Bound’ ~ “The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.” – Douglas Adams. It had been a desire of mine for several years to capture the Milky Way arch, and I finally did so at South Tufa, Mono Lake, June 2, 2016! For a technical point of view, this is 7 different images taken with my camera on a tripod, beginning at the left side of the Milky Way and then rotating the camera and shooting another image several times. I then 'merge' the resultant 7 images in a function of Adobe Photoshop, creating a final image that looks like the one below. Some fun facts about The Milky Way - the Galaxy measures some 100,000–120,000 light-years in diameter, it is home to planet Earth, the birthplace of our humanity. Our Solar System resides roughly 27,000 light-years away from the Galactic Center (far right). The Milky Way has between 100-400 billion stars; but when you look up into the night sky, the most you can see from any one point on the globe is about 2,500, which on a new moon night and the accompanying dark skies, and a mere mortal like me looks up at the sky, I would swear that I was looking at all 400 billion stars in the galaxy! It is overwhelming, humbling and I strongly recommend that you experience this at least once in your lifetime!

June 2, 2016, Mono Lake, CA; exp. 3o sec @ f/2.8; 16-35 mm lens at 19 mm; ISO 6,400

#7 (138) 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond ~ Closed out 2016 with this image, shot during a couple of days that I spent with my son in the Big Sur area mid-December. This is Keyhole Arch, Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, California, and the phenomenon that occurs annually during the time of the Winter Solstice. The best light for this happens mid-December to mid-January, when the setting sun shines through the Keyhole, provided there is a cloudless sky on the western horizon at sunset. I always find this to be such a fun shoot. You must arrive early as the parking lot at Pfeiffer Beach, privately managed, is small and fills up quickly. The beach is crowded with lots of families and photographers. It is not difficult to get a spot to shoot from as most photographers move around as the setting sun moves around and gives you different looks as it pours in through the Keyhole. I leave you with this thought for the New Year ~ ‘We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.’ ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dec. 19, 2016, Keyhole Arch, Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, CA; exp. 1/6 sec @ f/11; 24-105 mm lens at 60 mm; ISO 100

#6 (144) ‘Mountain Light’ ~ One of my favorite images from the Patagonia trip, shot at sunrise on a cloudy morning, with the magnificent, and distinctive three granite peaks of the Paine mountain range or Paine Massif. The Torre del Paine National Park, encompasses numerous mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. In the foreground are the omnipresent dead, silver colored trees, still standing from accidental fires that ravaged the park at various times going back to 1985. To me this was one of the highlights of our Patagonia photo shoot, as the scenery and the views of this magnificent mountain range on this particular morning was simply spectacular. The early morning light was special and the hundreds upon hundreds of dead, silver colored, gnarly trees added a great deal to the setting, providing ample foreground material to make any composition interesting.

Oct. 31, 2016, Torre del Paine National Park, Chile; exp. 1/8 sec @ f/11; 24-105 mm lens at 28 mm; ISO 160

#5 (150) 'Touching' ~ I set off to capture the supermoon at Yosemite National Park, set to rise on November 14, 2016. The moon’s orbit around Earth is slightly elliptical so sometimes it is closer and sometimes it’s farther away. When the moon is full as it makes its closest pass to Earth it is known as a supermoon. At perigee — the point at which the moon is closest to Earth — the moon can be as much as 14 percent closer to Earth than at apogee, when the moon is farthest from our planet. The full moon appears that much larger in diameter and because it is larger shines 30 percent more moonlight onto the Earth. Due to some miscalculations that I made as to the time and precise location of the moonrise, I was unable to capture that particular event much to my disappointment. However, the next morning, quite frankly by accident more than precise planning, I was got to photograph the setting full moon. I was able to get into a position where I had the moon setting upon these burnt pine trees, which was an interesting juxtaposition of the moon sitting on top of the charred remains of the tree trunks. It was a beautiful sight to see, one that will not be visible again this close to Earth until November 25, 2034. Fairly good chance most of us will be long gone by then:)

Nov. 15, 2016, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1/400 sec @ f/11; 400 mm lens+2x at 800 mm; ISO 200

#4 (182) 'Stuck in the Middle' ~ The waterfalls, streams and rivers in and around Yosemite Valley typically have an abundance of water flowing in spring time, a result of the winter's snow beginning to melt and the run off begins. It is a wonderful time of the year to visit Yosemite. This is an image that I shot, precariously hanging off the edge of the bridge over Cascade Creek in early March. The lone tree growing, seemingly out the middle of these two rocks caught my eye, and I wanted to capture the chaos of the raging waters around the stillness of the rocks, with the lone, bare tree stuck n the middle. I tried a number of camera setting and settled for this one, trying to freeze the movement of the water and show a sense of the turbulence and power of the rushing water juxtaposed against the stillness that these two rocks provide with the lone tree growing in the middle of this natures chaos.

Mar. 8, 2016, Cascade Creek, Yosemite NP, CA; exp. 0.3 sec @ f/11; 70-200 mm lens at 91 mm; ISO 100

#3 (258) 'Peaceful Easy Feeling' ~ This is one of my favorite locations to visit, just hangout, and photograph in Yosemite National Park. It has many names - River Bend, Housekeeping Bend, as well as Camp 4. It provides a wonderful view of the magnificent Half Dome, with many different faces, colors and features dictated by what happens in the various seasons in Yosemite. This was shot February 18, a day after a snow storm swept thorough the area, when I was in the Valley intent on shooting the Horsetail Falls phenomenon that can occurs about this time every year. The title of this image derives from what I feel every time I stand at this location in Yosemite National Park, with the Merced River in the foreground and the magnificent Half Dome in the background. I have many a fond memory of this location in just about every season, and always look forward to visiting it every time I am fortunate to be in the Park.

Feb. 18, 2016, Yosemite NP, CA; exp. 2 sec @ f/2; 16-35 mm lens at 17 mm; ISO 50

#2 (261) 'Perfectly Still' ~ This is one of my favorite images from my trip to Patagonia in the latter part of the year. I had never been anywhere before in South America, but always wanted to visit the Patagonia region, that encompasses parts of Argentina, as well as Chile. This was shot in Torre del Paine, Chile, with the Cuernos del Paine and Almirante Nieto mounts reflected in Lake Pehoé at sunset. Patagonia is famous for its prevailing winds, so strong that a gust can knock you down to the ground and often. That is not conducive to reflections, to say the least. So two quotes come to mind about this image - ‘Creativity is intelligence having fun’ ~ Albert Einstein, and ‘You don’t take a photograph, you make it’ ~ Ansel Adams. It took an unusual effort for me to make this image, but I also had a lot of fun doing so!

Oct. 29, 2016, Torre del Paine, Chile; exp. 2.0 sec @ f/11; 24-105 mm lens at 40 mm; ISO 50

#1 (323) 'Both Sides, Now' ~ The early spring months in Yosemite National Park are a great time to photograph reflections in the Valley. It is a time before the snow that accumulates during the winter months begins to melt and eventually begins rushing down the various waterfalls that end up in the Merced River. This image was captured the day after a small  snow storm passed through Yosemite, creating these beautiful clouds around the dawn wall of this iconic land marks in the Valley. I shot this from one of my favorite locations to view the magnificent El Capitan, and its reflection in a very still Merced River (with the aid of a polarizer). I dedicated this to one of my all time favorite singer songwriters, Joni Mitchell, who is recovering from a brain aneurism suffered early last year. Get well Joni, your songs are very much a soundtrack of my youth, wishing you a full and speedy recovery!

Feb. 18, 2016, Yosemite NP, CA; exp. 1.3 sec @ f/22; 16-35 mm lens at 16 mm; ISO 50

And there you have it, my fourth annual Top 12 Photographs for the 2016 year. Also, a continuing tradition, a few observations in closing - 1. Six of the Top Twelve images voted on in 2016 were shot in Yosemite National Park (a first), my own Granite Cathedral, where I go to converse with God:), 2. nine of the twelve were shot in California, (another first), 3. two were from Patagonia, Chile, 4. the remaining one of the twelve was shot in Wyoming, and 5. five of the images were vertical compositions (another first). It is interesting for me to compile these images every year and be reminded of the wonderful accomplishment I was privileged to be allowed to complete by traveling to these beautiful locations, as well as what excellent tastes that the followers of my Facebook page have, and how much these people help in my selection process at the end of each year. So a big thank you to all these people for taking the time to do so - greatly appreciated!

In conclusion, and as always, I owe a great deal of gratitude to the many people who support my photography by purchasing my images in print form, as well as the hundreds of Likes and Comments that so many people take the time to stop by and leave on my Facebook page at http://facebook.com/djgrenier Last but not least, the wonderful and talented photographers and friends of mine that I travel and live with during these photographic journeys through out the year - again, my deepest thanks!

Looking forward to 2017 and wishing everybody a Wonderful New Year!

I decided to enter The Face 2016 Annual Photo Contest. I entered 3 images. They were all selected to the Semi-Finalist round. They all made it to the Finalist round. One of them was selected to be Honorable Mention. I was pleased to say the least, and pledge to do more street portraits in 2017, an activity that I have only attempted less than a handful of times in the last 10 years! Thank you to the Editors/Judges at Digital Photo Pro magazine.

The Face Photo Contest Winners

First Prize Marta Everest

Carolina

I took this indoor portrait of my daughter in our living room with the help of a single softbox and a light-colored background. To keep it simple, I only used a piece of cream-colored fabric and a pretty floral tie for her hair. She did the rest.

Equipment/Settings: Nikon D810, 50mm/ƒ/1.8/1/320s/ISO 250

Second Prize Bhasker Koppula

Portrait Of A Stranger

This photograph was taken on a lazy Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City in Downtown Utah. I was out with one of my friends, and the mission was to do street photography. When we came across this gentleman, who was a homeless person, I knew he’d be a perfect subject for a close-up portrait photograph. We asked if he’d be okay with being photographed, and he obliged. We took a few photographs in the ambient sunlight without any additional lighting source of any kind. I tried to focus on his eyes as I thought they were very expressive.

Equipment/Settings: Nikon D800, 24-70 mm ƒ/2.8 lens at 60mm. Shutter speed: 1/250 sec. ISO: 200, Aperture Priority mode. Adobe Photoshop.

Third Prize William King

The Profile

This photographic composite image focuses on illustrative portraiture. I began to formulate and digitally capture profile portraiture with model Chris Lavish in the studio. Lavish has highly stylized hair and a tattooed body, requiring additional attention by hair and make-up stylist Dilenia Peralta. My goal was to expand the digital creative process in multiple directions while complimenting and presenting the subject. I was able to re-orchestrate the color hue and saturation of textured background imagery, employed as a photographic background. An additional layer included a soft drop shadow behind the subject.

Studio lighting is so important to portraiture. In this project, my approach was to simplify the use of studio lighting. A seamless white background employed with no lighting on it produced a light grey background. Using one Profoto B2 head, with a Profoto 1×3-inch OCF Softbox, the single light was placed approximately 45 degrees behind the subject’s profile, facing two silver reflectors in front of the subject that reflected the light, wrapping it across the subject’s face and providing a gradational fill right to left. The light, though beautiful, amplifies the pores and requires considerable retouching in post.

The studio digital captures were made with a Nikon D800 using a Sigma 18-105mm ƒ/4 lens. Setting: ISO 100, 58mm focal length, exposure ƒ/11 at 1/160 of a second. The Profoto Air Remote TTL-N for Nikon was employed to provide wireless sink and exposure control.

Using Photoshop CC 2015, I first duplicated the background image, made a mask for the subject, and added a layer-style drop shadow, resized it then softened the shadow. I selected a textured image that I duplicated, and manipulated its color hue and saturation, texture, then resized it to complement the subject. Nik Color Efex Pro 4 was used to employ a skylight filter providing a warming effect to the background. I then created a new layer titled “Retouch” used to retouch the subject’s face and hair.

Honorable Mention David J Grenier

Are You Experienced

I had gone back to the country of my birth, Sri Lanka, for the first time after a 55-year absence. I was thrilled to be back and found I had a strong kinship with the local people that I had grown up with, having gone to school there and speaking the language for 15 years. I felt comfortable asking people their permission to photograph them and enjoyed the experience doing so. We had just visited the Dambulla Cave Temple, the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka, and walked to our bus to drive back to our hotel, when I spotted this man sitting on the side of the road.

He was one of many beggars that are commonplace in these parts, and his face caught my attention. He seemed as if he had gone through lots of experiences in his life, and I had a certain empathy for him and his plight, especially at this late stage of his life. I asked his permission to photograph him, but he spoke no English, but managed to get him to understand simply using hand gestures. In response to him saying yes, he also made it clear to me that he wanted some money in exchange, which I clearly intended to give him, regardless. I really enjoyed the expression in his eyes in this shot, which says, “I may be down and out, but I am still alive and grateful.”

Equipment/Settings: Canon EOS 5D Mark III; Exposure 1/125 sec @ f/ 4.0; Lens Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM; Focal length 67mm; ISO 160

Honorable Mention Gerardo Ramirez

The Editor

The objective behind my portraits is to reveal my subject’s personality, to allow them to tell their story with a gesture. As a video editor, my job is to tell a story using images and sound, which has helped me in my approach as a still photographer.

I like to capture genuine, unguarded moments rather than focusing on posing, so I treat my sessions as interviews, easing the person into telling me about them, or simply telling me a story.

The subjects in this series of photographs are people that I work with, and having that relationship with them allowed me to get to a point where they could behave in a way that shows their individuality. Each photograph in the series  is named with their actual work titles. The idea was to show who they are beyond that title, but at the end, I discovered their portraits revealed the way they approach their work.

Equipment/Settings: The photos were taken in a studio with a black background using a collapsible ring flash diffuser soft box. I used two cameras. I used a Nikon D7000 for “The Editor.” For all of them I used a Nikkor 24mm 2.8 lens and a Yongnuo YN560-II speed light. All the pictures were processed in Adobe Lightroom. Exposure 1/250 second ƒ/22, ISO 100, YN560-II 1/16 Zoom at 24mm.

Finalists

My other two entries that were included as Finalists.

To see a complete list of all 2016 The Face Finalists, visit http://www.digitalphotopro.com/photo-contests/the-face/

I visited the home of my birth Sri Lanka, for the first time after a fifty five plus year absence in 2014. It was a remarkable and memorable trip in many, many ways, and allowed me to come back to my home in California with a wonderful and varied collection of images. The image below, is of a bullock cart carrying a drum of kerosene that we happened to spot in our final days in Colombo, the city of my birth and the last place I lived with my family prior to immigrating to Australia in 1958. A shot of a bullock cart, a typical and memorable sight of my childhood, was one of my goals when I arrived back in the country.  A bullock cart is a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen (bullocks). It is a means of transportation used since ancient times in Sri Lanka, as well as many parts of the third world. They are still used today where modern vehicles are too expensive or the infrastructure does not favor them, especially for carrying goods, traditionally agrarian and lumber. The cart is attached to a bullock (or team) by a special chain attached to yokes, but a rope may also be used for one or two animals. The driver and any other passengers sit on the front of the cart, while the load is placed in the back.

During our twenty one day tour of the island we had not seen a bullock cart until this day, which made me hurriedly get out of the tour bus and try and get myself in a position to capture an image before it began moving again. I was able to include a few omnipresent tuk tuks, an automated rickshaw, which is clearly the most popular mode of transportation by the local Sinhalese and Tamil populations (arguably next to the bicycle). I was happy to have finally found and captured the image, but I do remember wondering about what it must be like to ride this rig everyday, specially being exposed to the putrid smells of the road - the diesel fumes from big buses and cargo carrying lorries and trucks, not to mention the flatulence from the bullock just ahead of you as the driver!

This blog was written after all this time, surreptitiously indeed, when my cousin Michael (who was with me when this photograph was taken) forwarded to me a link to an article that was just published in the Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka's largest circulation English newspaper. Coincidentally, this is the same newspaper that published several articles written by my father J.A.R. Grenier in the 1950s. I was stunned when I first read the article to find out that this bullock cart is the only one of its kind in Colombo, and indeed the same one that we had found and photographed a little over two years ago. Gave new meaning to 'it's a small world'!

It is a heartfelt and informative story about the owner of this bullock cart and business, Mr. A. Chandana, and the trials and tribulations of his livelihood who has been doing this for "about 55 years". I do not want to be a spoiler of the story that I have included below that I encourage you to read completely, but Mr. Chandana says "I manage to scrape up about 1,200 - 1,500 rupees a day.” That translates to about US$8-10 per day, which I spend every time I go to the movies! He goes on to say "My needs, the bullocks needs, the household needs, the children’s needs - everything is taken care of with this money.”

This story and the plight of this man and his family brings to mind vivid memories of growing up in this magical island, and the stark and austere lives of the local people who struggle to eek out a living, yet who seem to be blessed with an unusual and upbeat disposition uncommon in the West, where our daily lives seem to be 'burdened with interruptions to our local WiFi or problems with our 200 TV channels of infotainment'. I am left feeling humbled with a new found gratitude for all that I have in my daily life!

And now, please read the Rest of the Story............

http://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2016/05/22/spe-cit-01.asp

The Last of the Bullock Carts

Sunday, May 22, 2016 (© 2016 Sunday Observer All Rights Reserved)

Are Colombo’s fuel-carting bovines on their last legs?

On a wet morning one Wednesday, we happened upon a wizened old man trundling past the Independence Square on a rickety, blue, bullock cart; A. Chandana claims he is the last of a species: A kerosene-vendor who uses a container pulled by a single Ox to transport his fuel around the city.

There was a time, recalls Marini, a long-time resident of Jaya Road, Bambalapitiya,that the ‘bullock-uncle’ - as we would call him, would come faithfully to the house with his ‘karaththey’ (cart) every day. “We were school children, so we didn’t know very much about what he did or why he was there, but I do remember sneaking up to the bull, with my siblings, and trying to make friends with him.”

Ashamed

Ann, a resident of Colpetty, remembers the same things: “Born and bred in the heart of Colombo, I am ashamed to say we didn’t know very much about what these men did, or why they were home,” she said. “But in a very British-brought-up-on-Enid-Blyton-fashion, we tried to feed the bullock sugar ‘cubes’ (virtually impossible to find!), and entice it with fruit!”

“I don’t remember the last time I saw one, though,” she said. “Anyway, they are from a time gone by”.

It is against this backdrop that Chandana makes his unhurried appearance. Dressed in faded shorts, a checquered shirt and with a hat pulled down firmly on his head, Chandana chews his betel slowly, taking time to think, before he speaks.

“About 55 years now,” he says in response to the question – ‘how many years in the business?’ Chandana says he began playing his cart in 1964. “At that time, a gallon of kerosene oil was 76 cents,” he said. “Now it is about Rs. 55 a litre.”

Discount

Born in Colpetty, A. Chandana is now a resident of Maradana, Colombo 10. He begins his work early: “I get my fuel from the ‘shed’,” he said.

“No, I don’t get a discount – I get for the same amount that other people get it for.”

“But, he added, “I sell it for about 5 rupees more: ‘Mey kakulata genath dena dey, ney’ (Its what I bring, almost up to their feet, no) “But still, it’s less expensive to buy from me than to but from the ‘kadey’ (local street shop). That is why they wait for me,” he said, of his customers.

“When they hear my bell, they all congregate on the street,” he said, with just the hint of a smile. “They depend on me. I go even to those tiny streets you can barely take a vehicle down,” – referring to the temporary dwellings that mark parts of Colombo.

So what exactly, does Chandana sell? “Kerosene oil,” he says. “But after gas came in, business has been bad.”

Research indicates that cooking fuels become cleaner, more convenient, efficient and costly as people move up the ‘energy ladder’ from animal dung, the lowest in the ladder, towards crop-residues, wood, charcoal, kerosene, gas and electricity…”

In Colombo - Gas and Electricity are increasingly dominant with fewer and fewer residents using wood or kerosene.

This is the reason why, Chandana is the last of a kind in Colombo: “Outstation, and in the outskirts of Colombo, there are people like me,” he said. “But I am the last one in Colombo.”

Maximum

Chandana says he has developed two ‘lines’. One of these routes takes him to Kirulapone, Bambalapitiya and Wellawatte, while the other takes him to “Magazine Road, Vaanathey and Obeysekarapura.”

“I work for four to five hours a day at maximum,” he said, “and I manage to scrape up about 1,200 - 1,500 rupees a day.”

“It’s with that money that we do everything we have to do.”

“I have a family,” he explained. “They are maintained with this money. My needs, the bullocks needs, the household needs, the children’s needs - everything is taken care of with this money.”

He admits the money is not enough. Especially with the advent of gas: “Before gas came along, I would sell about 4 carts of fuel,” he said. “Each cart load contains about 570 litres. Now, I am lucky if sell about 250-300 litres a day.”

He says it is unlikely he will do any other work. “Meka thama puruddata gihin thiyenney,” he says - “This is the job I am accustomed to. I can’t do anything other than this. I am now 64 years old. I have done this job from the time I was small.”

Business

“There were problems before,” he said, lapsing into memory. “We were not allowed on the streets till after 9 am – that affected business. But now, aparadey kiyanna beha, there are no problems with the ralahamis (policemen). There was a time I was mugged also - twice!”

“They threw chilli powder in my face and made off with 300 rupees, one time, I remember - 300 rupees was a lot of money in those days.”

“Now I don’t have that kind of problem anymore. Now the problems are the traffic, the heat, the rain – those things, but even that is not really a problem,” he said translucently.

“I wish I had another bullock or two, though,” he added, in sudden afterthought. “I could give this fellow a break then, and ride them alternately.” But a bull costs between 125,000 - 150,000 rupees, Chandana said, not something he can afford at the moment.

“I have another cart that I give for weddings. I earn something from that work. It’s a nice cart. But I use this same animal - if something happens to him, well, then I don’t know,” he said, shrugging.

The bullock, Chandana says, is housed at a ‘madama’ nearby. “I give it ‘poonakku’ in the morning. Then in the afternoon, after our rounds, I cut him a big bundle of grass and leave it there for him. He eats that until night.”

“Every so often someone will offer to buy my bullock,” Chandana said. “Sometimes people do that to set the bullock free. I use the money they give me to buy another bullock. I have changed bullocks like this, over 500 times in my life. But I never sell them to be slaughtered. We don’t even eat beef,” he said.

He says he is well received, wherever he goes: “People know me. On the streets they wave and say “Hello, Chandrey-Uncle!” or ‘Chandre’. Sometimes will even give me a Rs. 50 or Rs.100 ‘santhosam’ Some will make me a cup of tea, some will even give me food,” he said of the goodwill he generates.

“ I want to continue in this business,” he said. “I am used to this. I work 365 days a year. But I don’t know what will happen in the future.”

“Anyway, this trade will end with me,” he says with final, quiet conviction. “It’s true, I have a son, but the children have studied - so they won’t end up the way I did.”

“This ends with me.”